


Everything Changes

by jillipenny



Category: Persona 3
Genre: Comfort, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Self Insert, although im kinda like femc anyways so it doesn't matter ok it does but whatever, warning: some pretentious descriptions ahead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 21:06:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9677384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jillipenny/pseuds/jillipenny
Summary: Expansion of the rank 10 social scene with Shinjiro.





	

From the back of the room, I could feel his eyes staring at me, waiting for me to make the first move. 

Even though we were close friends, I was having trouble finding the courage to look him in the eyes and actually do it.

I took a deep breath, summoned all of my wits, and took a step that began a chain of reactions that started something far beyond anything I could have imagined. 

I quietly walked past my dorm mates, who had surely noticed how much time me and him were spending together. For the past month, we had been going out every other night and we had inadvertently led the entire dorm into thinking we weren't just friends. I wasn't going to be the one to correct them.

I slid beside Shinjiro, and without a word, handed him the old pocket watch he had mentioned in one of our late night conversations. 

He looked at me with a face that asked a million questions, and I answered them all with a smile. 

"I wanted to go somewhere tonight. Follow me." he stated bluntly, leaving no room for me to object.

He took my hand gently and led me out of the dorm, into the freezing September night, and down the street to the old park nearby. The only sounds in the air were the distant sounds of dogs barking and my teeth chattering. 

We ended up being the only ones there, which made the tension in the air grow even stronger. 

"Where did you find this?" He asked with a tone of seriousness, which immediately made my heart race from anxiety.

"After school yesterday, I was thinking about you a lot - uh, not in a weird way, of course! I just wanted to help you out, 'cuz, y'know, you seemed really concerned about the watch and all, so I went searching, and asking around, and eventually I came to the police station - and there it was!" I said, without pausing to take a breath. 

"I... see." Shinjiro palmed the pocket watch, obviously deep in thought. I didn't dare disturb him. 

"I thought I'd be fine if I never saw this again," he sighed. "But I never imagined that you of all people would bring it to me." He stared at me with a solemn look in his eyes.

He took a leather watch out his coat pocket, and handed it to me. "This isn't really to pay you back, but I want you to have this." He paused and looked me in the eye. "I was hesitating about if I should give it to you or not... I thought it'd look good on you." He said with a faint smile and a stain of red ran across his cheeks.

"Thank you..."   
`  
"Y... yeah." 

The air grew quiet again and Shinjiro took to staring at his feet. He looked as if he had something to say, but he didn't know how to say it.

I kept silent, as to not force anything out of him - the man gets really awkward when you poke and prod at him, like he doesn't know how to react.

After what felt like forever, he said: "I need you to look after Aki for me. You know he's an idiot. Remember that story I told you about my first fight with him?" 

"Yeah."

"It was because... I stole a doll from a toy shop," he said with a small smile. "I stole it for Aki's sister because she couldn't make any friends. I stole it because I thought it'd make her happy." 

I realized that in this moment, I had finally brought down one of Shinjiro's last walls and that I was seeing something that almost nobody else had ever seen. 

Shinjiro's laugh interrupted my thoughts as he continued his story. "Aki found out about it and beat the crap outta me... and he was crying the whole time." he said with a nostalgic smile across his face.

I couldn't believe this was happening. Shinjiro never smiled, or laughed, or opened up, or, well, anything around anyone else... I guess I really did mean something to him. 

"Afterwards, we both went back to return it... and to apologize for what I did. The owner smacked us both." He ended his story and turned to look at me.

"He hasn't changed at all from back then." His face started to beam with a certain pride that showed me how deeply he cared about Akihiko. "He's stupid, honest, proud, kind... and a crybaby. That's why someone needs to be by his side... be there to dry his tears, alright?"

"Of course." I assured him.

Shinjiro seemed relieved and looked at me tenderly. I felt my face heat up and I looked away quickly.

He didn't seem to notice; instead, he started telling me more stories about his childhood - it was as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders, allowing him to finally open up to someone. 

He went on about what food he likes to make, the movies he'd seen, what Akihiko and Mitsuru used to do when they were freshmen, what cooking shows were good... everything. He filled the air with himself and I loved it, and although I occasionally chimed in, for the most part I was distracted. 

I was distracted by the grey clouds rolling by in his eyes and the way his voice rolled across his tongue and echoed in my ears. I was enchanted by the way his smile made his face look even better than it usually did. 

I felt myself drifting off to sleep when Shinjiro's voice lowered and he sounded concerned. "The wind's starting to pick up," he murmured. "I kinda want to stay here a little longer if we can, but... aren't you cold?" He shifted slightly closer to me and took my hands in his for a moment. "Your hands feel like they're frozen solid," he remarked.

I felt chills down my spine and realized that my hands really had gone numb from the cold. I nodded at him.

"Hey... you're gonna catch something. C'mere." With those words, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder in a soft embrace. 

"Wha--... h-hey!" I stuttered, not expecting the warmth or the closeness from him.

Shinjiro looked at me, a small smile painted across his face and his cheeks burning bright red. 

I didn't fight back, and decided to give into the heat of his body. He smelled like coffee, and I could've sworn there was more than just his chest under that coat. I felt myself drifting off into a soft sleep right there when I heard his voice again:

"Hey... we should go back now," he whispered. "They'll send the cops for us if we're out for much longer." 

I sighed, not wanting to leave this perfect little world contained in the two feet around me and him. After what felt like forever, I got up, instantly regretting my choice.

"Thank you for tonight... I... I'm really glad I got to see you like this." I said quietly.

"Y-yeah." He responded, getting up and then moving slightly closer to me. He softly took my hand and we went back to the dorm, knowing that something was forever different between us.

**Author's Note:**

> hey y'all!!!  
> this is my second fic so if you have any comments/criticism please help me out! i wanna write my boy better ❤️


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